Lisette's graduation!!!

June and I were able to go on a little trip to Kansas for Lisette's graduation from Kansas State! It was so fun to see my family and for them to be able to see June. It's Jake's family's "turn" for Christmas this year, so it was nice to be able to spend some time with them!

Lisette graduated in Early childhood ed and she's going to be so great. She has worked SO HARD the past couple years, but especially this last year, and I'm so proud of her and I'm glad she's finally done! She decided not to get her master's degree quite yet, so I'm excited that she can come visit us for a couple weeks when June turns 1!!

For the weekend, we all rented the cutest air bnb in Manhattan called the Sunset Cottage. They designed it PERFECTLY, but the only thing they didn't design well is the windows - I think they kept the original windows, because it is DRAFTY in there! Haha holy cow it was so freezing cold at night, I slept with pants, sweatshirt, and socks. I'm glad June is a little heater because I knew she was perfectly warm at night in her fleece pajamas cuddling me.

The whole weekend was so fun. We shopped at Target, ate black raspberry bean dip which is AMAZING and June loved it too! I got to see Carli, Allison, my Grandma and Cassie and all of Lisette's friends got to meet June. She did get a little overwhelmed, but really, she handled it all very well given the situation!! She is very much a mama's girl though and wanted to be by me the whole time which I am fine with! Haha she did let Lisette hold her a few times though because she looks the most like me, of course.

It was a really fun and fast weekend. The sun was shining, it was 40 degrees, and we pretty much just hung out the whole weekend, chatting and catching up with each other. My mom highlighted my hair with a box lol so it's much lighter now which I am liking so far, although it's different - I haven't highlighted my hair in over 2 years!

It'll be fun to watch Lisette's "next steps". And it makes me that much more excited to BE DONE with college!! One class left until I can finally get my degree!

Ben to Singapore!

Ahh, it's been a bittersweet week for a lot of reasons! First, June and I just got back from Kansas where we were visiting for Lisette's college graduation (more on that later). Second, it's the last week of school . . . ever! I'll never have to sit in a classroom again, write a research paper again, or ever give a presentation again! I'm so excited but it's also weird because . . . what am I going to do with my time now!? Haha. And third, because Ben and Ralph were visiting this week to take Ben to the Provo MTC. We are so, SO proud of Ben, but we are also sad to see him go and be away from our family for 2 years. We know that he will be well taken care of and really hope he will enjoy his time there learning Chinese and serving the people of Singapore!

Today, I woke up and went to work at the warehouse. I just started this week and it's been pretty good so far- but the learning curve is pretty steep if I'm being honest! Haha. I left a little early so I could spend time with Ben and Ralph before they both had to leave and as I was leaving, it was snowing and sticking like nobody's business. I was shaking the entire drive home. I'm so glad we bought new tires!

When I got home, everyone had eaten breakfast and they were just hanging out. Bob was in town for some work so he was there too, it was a party! We finished up some of Ben's laundry and then the Mauldins came over and brought Waffle Love - so good. After they left, it was nice to have just the 4 and 1/2 of us hanging out together. It's just a weird feeling - knowing this is the last time you'll see a person for 2 years . . . What do you say?! What do you talk about?!

We drove to the MTC with his bags in tow, parked, and walked out to take a couple of pictures. Ralph and Ben had a really genuine hug, and it was really sad to watch them part. You really could feel the love, and it seemed like Ralph never wanted that hug to end.

When we walked him over to the actual building, they are pretty strict and you can only walk to the gate. If you want to go in, you have to drive in, so we were saying our goodbyes at the most awkward spot but it was probably for the best. I got some super cute pictures of Ben, June, and Jake and I'm excited to look back on them in a couple years when he returns home.

I am really proud of Ben for serving a mission. I can only imagine how hard it is to make the decision to serve a mission, let alone actually do it. He is a great example for our little family. I'm excited to hear his stories and watch how his mission helps shape him. I'm also excited to hear him speak Chinese. I know he is going to be great.

We can't wait to see him in 2 years! xoxo

Thanksgiving in Cinci (and photo dump)

We just got back from thanksgiving break in Cincinnati! It's always so nice to get some down time at the farm and hang out with family. We were able to get flights last minute thanks to Jake's dad, and we were so excited to get some time off from school. Jake just got a job where he works 12 hour shifts, on top of school, research, and volunteering, so this break was much needed!

We were able to spend most of our time just at the farm hanging out together - eating food, playing games, sitting by the fire. We took June in the hot tun for the very first time, watched movies, and went to the Cincinnati Zoo festival of lights! They hadn't been in a couple years, so it was exciting to go all together. On top of that, Tracey bought a pass where all her grandkids and a couple adults can go for free for a year, so I know where we will be this summer! I'm super excited.

Thanksgiving Day was fun, too. Not too many people came over, so it wasn't too hectic and it was really fun to catch up with some of Jake's extended family. The best part was that June took a three hour nap during the time that we ate so I ate handsfree and then she woke up so happy. Everyone was wondering where she was and I was really surprised she was still sleeping, especially when it was so loud.

When she finally did wake up, Scott was the first one to hold her. Haha he sat her on the counter with him and gave her a biscuit to suck on. Too bad she has two sharp teeth and bit a piece off, started gagging, and she got a little scared. I ended up taking her outside by the fire so some other people could love on her. Then when she was ready for bed, she went down no problem. I guess there's something about Cincinnati or maybe all the stimulation that makes her so tired and sleep so well. I'm not complaining!

June and I were able to spend some time feeding the animals. She loved it, even though it was SO FREEZING. It was so cute bundling her up in beanies and jackets to make sure she was warm. She loves being outside, so it was obvious that she was going to love it. One morning when we were getting all the feed ready, a couple of the little pigs had gotten out and come to the garage (they know where the goods are) and as I was holding her, she was just straining her neck to look down so she could see these creatures walking around on the ground. She was mesmerized! She also loved petting all the cats and the dogs, which was surprising to me. I'm always scared she is going to get scratched because babies are just rough with fur, but she really did pet them softly. Except for the one time that she pulled Harley's paw, but luckily Harley is used to that. I really love watching June explore at the farm; I can't wait until she can walk around and actually do some exploring!

Here are some photos we took over the week:

8 MONTHS OF JUNE

June is 8 MONTHS OLD as of yesterday! Really, for the past 2 months, I feel like I've been telling people, "Yeah she's 6 months old." For some reason, 6 months was such a big milestone for the both of us and then I kind of froze her in time at 6 months. But now I have an 8 month old. Like a real mom.

Things she loves:

• cuddling
• eating solid food 
• nursing
• climbing on things
• climbing over our legs
• playing with the vacuum
• warm showers
• sleeping in the car
• screeching
• saying dada 

Things she doesn't love:

• getting her nose cleaned out with the nose frida
• sleeping in her crib
• crawling in the grass
• wearing socks
• when I walk out of the room
• having her face or hands cleaned off when she finishes eating 
• sleeping when it's hot or she's sweaty 
• watching people, but not being held by them lol (stranger anxiety is real right now) 

Skills she has:

• crawling super fast now
• starting to understand "no" (but usually continues to do things anyway)
• eats solid food really well, hardly ever gags! *knock on wood*
• crawling over our legs without falling
• pulling herself up on anything
• and then sitting back down slowly without falling 
• knocking the trash can over is one of her #1 skills 
• pinching 
• pulling our glasses off our faces

Wearing some 6-9 month things, but mostly 9-12 months. Still in a size 3 diaper, but they're starting to get a liiiiittle bit snug. We love her so much, and I really can't believe we are closer to being with her for 1 year than her being in my uterus. Haha, love you junie b and so do sooo many others! 

More Halloween photos

Because obviously more pictures of June in her Halloween costume! I've been trying to get my "nice camera" out more regularly because the pictures really are so much better, but it's hard to lug that thing around. But it's definitely one of my goals - and I want to be better at printing them and putting them into some kind of album. One of my favorite things to do is look through old photos albums - physical, turn the page kind of thing.

Other things we have been up to lately are staying up way too late playing Splendor on the iPad haha. Our cousins showed us the game a few weeks ago and we have been addicted ever since. You can get it for $5 on the app store so we are loving it.

June has been eating more and more solids which is so fun to watch. She has gotten significantly better at chewing in the past couple weeks, and I've gotten more confident with actually letting her eat anything besides applesauce and yogurt. She hardly gags anymore which is so helpful for my sanity. When she does gag, she's generally able to work it out. I am so proud of her!

Jake had a job interview this morning and it sounded like it went really well! It was at a behavioral hospital nearby and we are really hoping he gets it! He sounded so excited about it when he walked out of the interview. I know he would do great and learn so many things! The only thing that would stink is the night shifts . . . I would just have to cuddle June extra hard while he was gone!

June is a dada QUEEN. She says dada all. day. long. It's so cute. I'm not sure she knows that Jake is her dad. It kind of seems like she just interprets dada to mean any happy or fun thing. Whenever she's happy she's just saying dadadada the whole time. It's so, so cute. But when she's sad or tired she still says Mama. I can't believe she'll be 8 months in one week. Time really does go by so fast!

I did yoga and went on a "run" for the first time in a while this morning (like a few months). I truly am already feeling it in my legs, which tells you how much I've done since getting cleared to workout lol. I'm trying to be just a little bit better and a little bit healthier, and hoping to make some real improvements by the time we want to have our next baby. I'm on a mission to help my body deliver my next baby naturally and I think working out will really help that come to pass. Haha we'll see; I'm going to be my own experiment.

Other than that, life is good. I'm trying to journal regularly, cook more often, snuggle June & not get so frustrated that she doesn't sleep. We are really on the tail end of school finishing (kind of), so we are trying to stay positive and happy as we finish our last assignments, papers, and tests. I'm so glad it's almost over and I'm going to be able to just hang out with June full time next semester (besides the one class I'm taking online).

We are all really looking forward to next year, but I'm also okay with this next 6-8 months to go by slowly. I'm not quite ready for June to turn 1 and to move out of our little house into the next chapter of our life. We both are trying to be better about enjoying the present and things we are doing right now.

LIFE LATELY: pumpkin patch & halloween!

Aahhhh... Fall with my sweet pumpkin pie is the best ever. I'm glad we got to experience all the pumpkin patches and Halloween before she hit leap 6 which starts tomorrow!

We went to the pumpkin patch with our cousin Jessica and her husband Fabricio and their cute daughter Emma! It was so fun seeing them together and catching up with them. We ate donuts and pizza and took a bunch of cute pictures of the girls and even took them down the slide. Truly everything is so much more fun with babies!

And Halloween!! We didn't go out with other kids or families, but we did dress her up in a chicken costume, OF COURSE. Anyone could've guessed that. She looked so cute in it and wasn't even trying to pull the hood off! We took a ton of pics of her of course but no proof of mom pics haha (i was looking rough). But we also got one of our chickens out and put her next to June and June tried to grab her beak and I screamed!! Haha I didn't want her to get pecked and when I screamed, June wasn't even fazed. #tough

I love this little sweetness. She's been such a trooper as we go through school, as we made applesauce for HOURS two weeks ago at Amanda's house, as we put her in a huge pile of leaves, during church while we teach the 9 year olds. Oh I also painted her toes a cute little purple color while she was sleeping the other day. They look SO CUTE! She really is the best baby. . . even if she doesn't really sleep at night unless she's snuggled up close!

Fall family pictures + food poisoning

Olivia took our family pictures this Sunday and I LOVE how they turned out!! I was going for the fall feeling, but not TOO fall-y if that makes sense... Anyway, I LOVE them. June was so happy and I'm so grateful we got some pictures of her smiling!!

On our way up to squaw peak, I ate a bowl of chili that we had made the night before as we drove up. Haha well, I had left the chili out all night and I didn't even think about it at the time... but at about 2 am, I was feeling SO nauseous. I jumped out of bed and turned on the shower, hoping to escape the nausea, but it was too late and I started puking in the toilet. SO SICK. I hate throwing up.

When I finished I was like whew, okay, done. I went back to bed. Then at  5 am it happened again and I threw up even MORE. Oh my gosh I felt so sick. And I was kicking myself for eating the chili! The rest of the day, I mostly laid down on the bed or on the floor, sipping sprite and trying to eat as little as possible but enough to try and maintain my milk supply. Holy cow it is difficult trying to care for a baby when you're feeling so sick! I definitely had a look at what my life will be like next time we're pregnant . . . I can confidently say I'm glad it's just me and June for right now.

Of course Jake was begging me to take a pregnancy test hahahaha. I knew for sure I wasn't pregnant, but I appeased him and took a test anyway ... of course it was negative, but it was funny taking one again and waiting to see if there was a second line. I would've freaked if there was!

I'm feeling 100% today and went to school and went to the pumpkin patch and have had a great day. I'm so glad that food just got out of my body as quick as possible. We are all hoping for a healthy winter, escaping the flu and food poisoning!!

mushy mom thoughts

Today I watched my friend give birth to her beautiful 7 pound boy and my heart was just shattered into pieces. She worked so hard to get that sweet baby here with us, and he is already so perfect. Watching him come out, slowly but surely with help from the doctor, I cried. There truly is nothing that compares to a baby being born.

As I watched them clean him, weigh him, check his heart, I couldn't stop thinking about June. This was someone's son, and she is my daughter. I tried to remember these moments when I had her. I can hardly remember now if I was worried about her breathing and crying. It seems so distant, yet also feels like it was just yesterday.  I was wondering what she was doing with Jake. Did she miss me? Because holy cow, in that moment, I missed her so bad.

Oh my baby is sweet. She's also a little fireball. She's 7 months old now and when you take something away from her, she'll cry and cry until you give it back. Her personality is growing. My favorite thing is that she really loves her parents. My friend Jackie was watching her yesterday and said when Jake came to get June, she had the biggest smile on her face when she saw him.

Ahhh... My first baby. So many firsts with this little girl. Such a steep (I mean steep) learning curve. A really amazing relationship we've built together. Throughout all the pain, sadness, fear, anger, frustration . . . I would do it 100 times over again for her.

I love watching her grow and learn; fall and get up, but there are times when I could take her back to her 8 lb 10 oz tiny newborn yumminess and snuggle her even more than I did. Appreciate those tiny, quiet moments just a little bit more. Smell her, hold her hand, cuddle her and kiss her.

But tomorrow, or rather in an hour or two, I get to nurse her and cuddle her in my bed. And then I get to wake up next to her, feel her crawl all over me and Jake, change her diaper.

I love being June's mom.

done with the MCAT forever

YAY, we are done with the MCAT FOREVER!!

Jake took the MCAT on September 1st and finally got his score back today, October 2nd!! They can send the scores in any time between 9 and 5 pm, so we first checked around 9:15 am and they were in! Jake did NOT want to look, he was so nervous. He kept setting his phone to the side and saying, "We are not looking. We're just gonna go throughout our day and not look!" Haha I was NOT having that.

Finally he agreed to look, pushed the button, and I think I was the first to see that his score. And it's SO GOOD and I'm seriously so, so, so happy. He really has worked so hard, especially this summer. Even while we were at the farm and he was studying and not playing with his brothers and us . . . that is truly amazing dedication. And now he has something to show for all of it!

We had a celebratory lunch at Chipotle haha and told all of our family that he did well. Everyone was so excited for him. We were also excited to start narrowing down which schools are in reach now and which ones we want to apply to. It's so exciting and scary all at the same time!

I'm so proud of Jake. He really is so hardworking and dedicated to school and his family! Now we just play and party until we start applying for schools!

motherhood / student balance

Ahhh.... Today was one of those days where school, homework, research, tests, motherhood, being a friend, and being a wife was just hard... And the day started out so promising!

I had to get about 4 hours of my research hours done by tonight at midnight, and I was trying to work them in around tending for June, but today was one of her needier days. Now she's asleep and I'm looking back on our day wondering if I was happy enough, if I showed her enough love, if we had enough fun together. I'm trying to find a happy medium of getting my schoolwork done to graduate and being a good (or great) mom.

Being a mother and a student is so hard. Mom guilt is real. When I drop her off with my friend's, I feel so sad that I even have to leave her for an hour and fifteen minutes. I wonder what she's doing, if she's happy or if she's sad, if she's hungry, if she misses her mom.

But then I also think, Okay what assignments do I need to turn in this week? What do I need to read?

In trying to find the happy medium between the two, I've tried to realize that these jobs are both amazing things. I'm lucky I'm a mother to such a cute and sweet little baby girl, and I'm also lucky that I get to be a student at BYU and finish up my education while being a mom, which I know not every mom gets to do. So, with that, I've just tried to make the best of getting things done when I can and putting things off when June needs me.

So far, four weeks in, it seems like our system is going well. There are days like today where needed research hours build up and I have to do it all after bed time, but next week we'll try again and be better. And soon enough, the semester will be over and it will just be June and me.

It's odd, because this time in my life is one of the happiest but also one of the most challenging times. I'm so lucky to have so much support from everyone around me regarding being a student and especially with being a mother. I just have to keep telling myself that I can do this!

JUNE SAID MAMA!

My baby girl said mama for the first time on the 24th and I was in shock!!

We were just hanging out at home, finishing up some homework. I was sitting at the dining room table while Jake was on the couch. June was crawling around, exploring the living room like she usually does. She likes to explore and play with her toys, but only for about 15 to 20 minutes. Once she's done, she's done. She becomes whiny until one of us picks her up and starts entertaining her a little more.

She started to get whiny and babbling. It sounded like she said mama but I thought noooo, she's too young and I don't try to get her to imitate me that often! But then she did it again and again and again. Jake said, "She's really saying it!" So honestly I let her be a little whiny and cry for a few seconds because I wanted to hear her say it again! 

I was smiling ear to ear. I don't think she knows what she's babbling, but it's so fun to hear her do the "M" sound, and of course, she does it with her tongue out :) As the next couple days have passed, I've noticed she only does it when she's whiny and wants to be picked up. She also will do it when she's crawling to get something, but it's a little farther than she anticipated. When I don't get her out of the car seat fast enough, she just goes mamamamama. Ah, it warms my heart! It's seriously the cutest thing. 

She's just babbling and talking so much more than she has been. Yesterday, I was working in our room while Jake had her out in the living room and I could just hear her saying, "Babaabababababa". You can just tell she's happy when she's babbling and chatting with someone. Our next mission is to get her to say dada! We are so excited she's learning so much, growing so fast, and showing us all her skills. 

Recent happenings

This week has been full of crazy surprises! June officially started crawling and is exploring more each day around the house. Tonight she wandered into the kitchen as we were making dinner and started putting her little arm around my ankle. With her new found mobility, she's also started to show how much of a mama's girl she is. She'll crawl to me wherever I am and whine the whole way over until I pick her up. And tonight, for the first time, she said MAMA! At first I thought, no, that's not what she said. But then she did it over and over again! I'm not sure she knows what it means, but I can't stop playing back the videos I have of her saying it. So far, it's only been when she's whining, but I'll take it!

We took these photos this past weekend when we were "location scouting" for our next family photos, haha. This is a little campground up Squaw Peak. The weather is quickly turning fall appropriate and we are loving it. For some reason it's so fun to dress babies in leggings and long sleeves. I'm just not ready for the snow - I'm hoping it goes easy on us again this year!

School is going well, but it's also stressful at times trying to get things done. Usually I have to wait until she's asleep at night or scramble to get things finished during naps, and I'm already ready for that to be over and be 100% mom, but I'm excited that I'll be graduating and finishing college. There is a light at the end of the tunnel!

We're excited for fall because that means homemade apple juice AND homemade grape juice!!! Plus soup galore, pumpkin pie, and my Grandma's chex mix! As sad as I am to say bye to this amazing summer we had, I'm excited to experience June's first fall. Almost everything is better with a baby on your hip.